Although gaming has existed in some form for many years, its present familiar form of slot devices, table games, sports books, etc. has mainly developed in the last few decades. Multiplayer gaming devices including multiplayer gaming tables have become popular in recent years because they allow more gaming devices to be fit into a specific area as well as providing a mechanism to allow for innovative gaming systems and styles. For example, electronic versions of poker, blackjack, craps, and others can be implemented on a multiplayer device to provide faster play and more consistent dealer mechanics. In some of these examples, a virtual dealer is displayed on a central screen to perform actions similar to what a live dealer would in running the games, such as shuffling or dealing the cards.
Other types of conventional multiplayer gaming devices include plurality of individual games that are configured to be respectively played at a plurality of gaming stations within a singular device body. For example, a plurality of video poker games may be housed in a semi-circular multiplayer gaming table with a separate display monitor associated with each of the individual gaming stations. These examples may include bar machines where multiple machines are included in a singular device.
However, while large multiplayer devices may help save floor space by allowing players to play in a more compact area that what would be feasible with separate machines, the large multiplayer devices can be difficult to orient in gaming areas that have physical restrictions or limitations. Even in relatively large gaming spaces, multiple multiplayer devices may be difficult to efficiently position relative to each other to maximize playable stations in a set area. In addition, the conventional large multiplayer gaming devices are generally very heavy and cumbersome to reposition. Thus, they may be difficult to reposition during gaming floor rearrangements. Also, these large multiplayer devices generally have a set number of gaming stations that cannot be altered. That is, if more or fewer gaming stations are desired in a specific gaming area it may be difficult to realize a desired con figuration because of the set number of gaming stations generally associated with each multiplayer gaming device. While custom multiplayer tables are an option for some desired configurations, the cost of manufacturing them can be prohibitive because the structure of the housing or cabinet varies somewhat from the standard production models.
Further, if the multiplayer gaming devices need to be connected to one or more other gaming devices or a gaming network, all of the gaming devices in the connection usually have to be powered down and rebooted after the connection has been made. This sequence of powering down and rebooting (i.e., downtime) can take away from valuable gaming time.
These and other problems in conventional gaming devices are addressed by embodiments of the present invention.